During the late innings of Browning's perfect game, Reed had to continually slow down his pitcher. According to Browning's book, Reds manager Pete Rose was worried that his pitcher was working too quickly, which could lead to an errant pitch. At one point in the game, Reed stood up and raised his arms, palms facing out, to signal Browning to slow down.

Despite his relative anonymity, Reed enjoyed a cult following in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania throughout his career. A group of young baseball fans chose Reed as their alternative hero to more popular choices such as Don Mattingly or Ken Griffey Jr. The motto of the fan club: "We support the role playing Jeff Reed because in life, who among us is truly a superstar, and how many of us are the role players?" Reed remains hugely popular in Scranton to this day, almost twenty years after his professional career ended.